Improvement of corrosion resistance of transparent conductive multilayer coating consisting of silver layers and transparent metal oxide layers

Journal Article · Tue May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2007 · Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, International Journal Devoted to Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1116/1.2722758· OSTI ID:20979370

Koike, Katsuhiko; Yamazaki, Fumiharu; Okamura, Tomoyuki; Fukuda, Shin ^[1]

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1. Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Sodegaura, Chiba 299-0265 (Japan)

An optical filter for plasma display panel (PDP) requires an electromagnetic shield with very high ability. The authors investigated a transparent conductive multilayer coating consisting of silver (Ag) layers and transparent metal oxide layers. The durability of the multilayer sputter coating, including the silver layer, is very sensitive to the surrounding atmosphere. For example, after an exposure test they found discolored points on the multilayer sputter coatings, possibly caused by migration of silver atoms in the silver layers. In their investigation, they modified the top surface of the multilayer sputter coatings with transition metals to improve the corrosion resistance of the multilayer coating. Specifically, they deposited transition metals 0.5-2 nm thick on the top surface of the multilayer coatings by sputtering. They chose indium tin oxide (ITO) as the transparent metal oxide. They applied the multilayer sputter coatings of seven layers to a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film substrate. A cross-sectional structure of the film with the multilayer coatings is PET film/ITO/Ag/ITO/Ag/ITO/Ag/ITO. They evaluated the corrosion resistance of the films by a salt-water immersion test. In the test, they immersed the film with multilayer coatings into salt water, and then evaluated the appearance, transmittance, and electrical resistance of the multilayer coatings. They investigated several transition metals as the modifying material, and found that titanium and tantalum drastically improved the resistance of the multilayer coatings to the salt-water exposure without a significant decline in transmittance. They also investigated the relation between elapsed time after deposition of the modifying materials and resistance to the salt water. Furthermore, they investigated the effects of a heat treatment and an oxide plasma treatment on resistance to the salt water.

• OSTI ID: 20979370
• Journal Information: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, International Journal Devoted to Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Journal Name: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. A, International Journal Devoted to Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 25; ISSN 1553-1813
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CORROSION RESISTANCE
HEAT TREATMENTS
INDIUM COMPOUNDS
LAYERS
PLASMA
POLYESTERS
PROTECTIVE COATINGS
SALTS
SILVER
SPUTTERING
SURFACE COATING
SURFACE TREATMENTS
SURFACES
TANTALUM
THIN FILMS
TIN OXIDES
TITANIUM
WATER